Episode 42: The Murder of Colleen Ritzer
24-year-old Colleen Ritzer was a bright, friendly and well-liked math teacher at Danvers High School in Danvers, Massachusetts. On October 22nd, 2013, Colleen stayed after school as she often did to offer extra help to any students that may have needed it. 14-year-old Philip Chism was one of these students. He had just moved to the area from Tennessee and was very quiet and shy, but when Colleen tried to ask him about his move he grew upset and she changed the subject.
Colleen then got up to go to the bathroom, leaving the classroom at just before 3:00pm. Philip also got up, checked to make sure the hallway was empty, and pulled his sweatshirt hood over his head before following Colleen into the bathroom. He can be seen on CCTV footage pulling out a box cutter and putting on gloves before entering the bathroom, then leaving covered in blood. He came back with a large recycling bin, which he can be seen on camera rolling through the school and then outside into the woods at the edge of the campus.
Philip had entered the bathroom and approached Colleen from behind, stabbing her 16 times with the box cutter and then raping her. He brought her out into the woods and continued to brutalize her before he slit her throat. He then changed into a set of clothes he had brought with him and went to Wendy’s and then a movie, both of which he payed for using Colleen’s stolen credit cards. He was caught walking along the side of a highway by police, who searched him and found the bloody box cutter, Colleen’s credit cards and driver’s license, and a pair of her underwear.
Despite his defense team arguing he was psychotic, Philip was found guilty of the murder of Colleen Ritzer and sentenced to 40-60 years with the possibility of parole in early 2016, a sentence Colleen’s family feels is not strong enough.
Please consider donating to this organization in Colleen’s memory:
https://www.colleenritzer.org
Image sources:
nbcnews.com - “Teen suspect in murder of teacher Colleen Ritzer left ‘hate’ note, documents say”
boston.com - “Philip Chism wore bloodied clothes, bought a movie ticket after math teacher’s murder”
boston.com - “Mistake led to Chism crime scene ‘slaughterhouse’ being cleaned”